Hacker gives PS3 a homebrew hello
by Majed Athab 
{ Mar 31st 2008 at 4:30PM }
The hacker noted that the systems he used for his experiment had no hardware modifications. The exploit was up and running on both 40 and 60 gig retail models -- not test PS3s.
In light of this, we know that anti-hacking/piracy has been a Sony strong suit when it comes to the PS3. We wonder if we'll be seeing more hacks to come, or will the big S put a stop to things and quickly retaliate with a new firmware update.
[Thanks Craig!]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Josh @ Mar 31st 2008 4:38PM
I didn't buy a $600 gaming system to play pong. Pass!
zyxwiley @ Mar 31st 2008 5:55PM
It's called proof of concept...
Josh @ Mar 31st 2008 8:29PM
@ zyxwiley
I get that it is only a proof of concept but what can hackers give me with home brew that I would want to risk making a very big, heavy, and black brick out of my PS3? The only thing I want that is not currently available (plus more good games) is Home, in game XMB, and music to be played off my hard drive while in a game. I can hardly imagine hackers to be able to do that, I think whatever they do come out with will be trivial at best and not worth damaging my PS3 over. For the most part I have been very happy with the updates Sony has been offering over the past year and I believe if they continue with them I will not see the need to hack my system.
zyxwiley @ Mar 31st 2008 9:50PM
For the legit user, you are correct; it doesn't have a terribly beneficial application. For the not-so-legit user, however, a hacked PS3 means (among other things) that you can burn or put your nice beefy hard drive to use running PS, PS2, and even PS3 games (though the size requirement for the latter would be ridiculous). The system was obviously designed to run these games, so it's just a matter of getting a hacked firmware to run the unsigned code.
SSG @ Mar 31st 2008 4:40PM
the only hacking i have ever done was in the matrix game... i spent hours in that mode...
Wayne @ Mar 31st 2008 4:42PM
April fools?
HektikLyfe @ Mar 31st 2008 4:50PM
Its not April but there is a video so chances are it isn't a joke.
SG @ Mar 31st 2008 5:04PM
...What's wrong with the guy who made the video? Is it that hard to set a camera up and make a simple video? (answer: no)
TKC-Muzzer @ Mar 31st 2008 5:20PM
Hackers have no lives. What a waste of time when you can probably get all these games free on the PC.
Runningflame570 @ Mar 31st 2008 5:30PM
Given the timing I'm calling shenanigans until there is some actual proof of the crack. While I seriously doubt PS3 will be able to avoid being cracked indefinitely I need more than some flashing text for this to convince me given the timing.
why not the LS2/LS7? @ Mar 31st 2008 5:23PM
PS3 already supports alternate OSes, like Linux. If his solution really only allows homebrew and not bootlegging games, what value does it have? I've been able to compile and run hello world on my PS3 for over a year already in Linux.
Darko @ Mar 31st 2008 9:07PM
Yea, and thats about all you can run on linux on a PS3 right now. If this unlocks the hardware to its full potential then yea... this is huge.
Hyams @ Mar 31st 2008 5:54PM
If this is indeed real and not an April Fools, I hope Sony stamps down on this.
I don't want my console being cracked!
Jerses @ Mar 31st 2008 6:18PM
its propably fake...why always this "hack" videos look like 80s UFO videos? cant they just put the camara in the center or the living room so we can se... console & tv? thats all they need and we need to belive
Popfrogs @ Mar 31st 2008 6:25PM
Other than piracy I see no reason to crack the PS3. The best "homebrew" on the PSP is pirated games anyway, not any of the junk homebrew devs come up with (other than that shoutcast app).
Anyway, I seriously doubt if this is true that it will live very long. We already know Sony is releasing new firmware to support the new PSN store soon.
whoelse @ Apr 1st 2008 6:05PM
Oh great! I'll have to download another update just to fix this hole because some dick has decided to hack the current firmware
adam @ Mar 31st 2008 7:49PM
homebrew can be used to create game loaders, this is a first step, second "running a simple game like p0ng" then lots of hard work to create a game loader which bypass's security which some hackers have already done but by complex ways which i think were also said on here.
Many outcomes can come from this if its true, its only a matter of time anyway.
The Sound @ Mar 31st 2008 6:40PM
One of the uses could be fore downloading games to the hdd.
Honestly. Who would do that, especially with games becoming increasingly bigger? MGS4 and Resistance 2 are maxed out at around 50gb's....
Jerses @ Mar 31st 2008 7:00PM
Im anti-hack ps3 too. But i remember the same thing happened too ps2, when dvd-r was too expensive for mortals and internet was all about dial-up...i remember a friend buying 6cds for a ps2 game lol crazy
Haiddasalami @ Mar 31st 2008 7:50PM
"i do not know the extent of which the discovery will let me program, but i seriously doubt this will lead to any iso loader, it does however have the potential of enabling homebrew game programming i believe. " Hopefully this does not lead to an iso loader, but also remember that sony doesnt allow you to do anything if you are on a lower firmware.
Fraser JK @ Mar 31st 2008 8:30PM
I don't think I'd risk messing with my PS3... even if this was real, 425£ was a heck load of money and I don't want it all to become a brick.
Why bother with pong, while the PSN has some cool games for download only for the price of a McDonalds Meal Deal?
Ether02 @ Mar 31st 2008 10:29PM
Whyyyy once home ever come out . homebrew would not be needed.
Mike @ Apr 1st 2008 12:51AM
Wake me up when we are able to use the ps3 graphics to its full potential in Linux..
Fordi @ Apr 1st 2008 3:33AM
I just want it so I can extend the xmb.
Sharpfish @ Apr 1st 2008 6:31AM
That's an OBVIOUS april fools joke. You can here him hitting the input SWITCHER when he flicks between two inputs (pc and PS3 probably).
April 1st and anyone expects us to believe this???
Phizzy @ Apr 1st 2008 8:06PM
Haha, how can nobody tell what this is? Look at the font - it's not a PS3 system font, it's the UT3 font. This is an Unreal Tournament 3 Full Conversion mod.
Phizzy @ Apr 2nd 2008 1:16PM
Proof: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWy0hNQQCP0
It's done in an even more noobish way than I thought. It's just a mutator that changes the scores screen to a black screen with static text. There is no way they'll get an actual game working from there. It won't even accept input. If they can work out how to make a full conversion mod, they might be able to make some basic games, but the person who did this seems to be an idiot or terrible coder. Or both. So, great fun. This guy won't be making any more PS3 'homebrew'.